


A Very Good Time

by TaleasOldasTimeandSpace



Series: Fairy Tales and Hokum [1]
Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Crack, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, The Mummy AU, all hail the garbage king, dO wE dEtEcT a SpArK oR tWo?, garcy, starring the murder ent and the nerd queen, there will be Flynn yelling at mummies, there will be Lucy reading books she probably shouldn't, there will be explosions, there will be sand, this is what happens when I start daydreaming about an Indiana Jones episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 03:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14866175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace/pseuds/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace
Summary: A condemned man with nothing to lose, a historian with everything to gain.Boom goes the dynamite!





	A Very Good Time

It wasn't Garcia Flynn's first time in prison.  It didn't take a genius, however, to realize that if the warden had his way, it would almost certainly be his last.

He still hadn't decided how he felt about that.  He didn't particularly _want_ to die, but he didn't have a whole lot of reasons to live at the moment, either.  He hadn’t for a long time, not since—

One of the guards unlocked his cell door with a rattle of keys, and Garcia narrowed his eyes.  He’d thought the hanging was scheduled for later in the day, but maybe they were just that starved for entertainment.  Well, he was happy to oblige. As soon as the door was open, he charged forward. The guard had no time to react as Garcia slammed into him, the impact knocking the hapless man to the ground.  Not that it did him much good—five more guards were waiting in the corridor, grabbing him before he could take more than a step. He fought as they dragged him down the corridor, but every guard he managed to knock loose was replace with three more, until small army shoved him into a barred, open-air enclosure.  He hit the bars with a grunt, meeting the stunned gaze of a woman on the other side of the bars for an instant before one of the guards hit the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground.

He took a second to catch his breath, then leaned back on his heels and squinted up at the woman—women, he realized.  ‘If you're here for the show, you're in the wrong place. The gallows are in the main yard. If you leave now you can get good seats.  Maybe even some peanuts.’

The first woman blinked.  ‘Show? Gallows? What are—’  She shook her head. ‘Never mind.  We'd just like to ask you a couple of questions, if you don't mind.’

‘And if I do?  Who are you, anyway?’  He eyed the second woman, who was trying valiantly to disappear behind the first.  Since she was only marginally shorter than her companion, she wasn't very successful.  ‘Don't I know your?’

Her eyes widened.  ‘Who, me? Nope! No, you don’t know me.  I don’t know you. We’ve never seen each other before in our lives, unless maybe we passed in the street, but that’s not really the kind of thing a person would remember, is it?  And I’m not saying that’s what happened, anyway.’ She pasted a strained smile on her face. ‘I’ve just got one of those faces.’

Garcia applauded slowly, the chains of his manacles rattling.  ‘That was _very_ convincing.  Well done.’

She opened her mouth, but the first woman cut off her retort with a sharp elbow.   _‘Ow,_ Lucy,’ she said, rubbing her side with a pout.

The first woman—Lucy—rolled her eyes.   _‘Shush,_ Jiya.  You're not helping.’  Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and met Garcia’s eyes with a smile.  He blinked despite himself from the force of it. ‘Hello, my name is Lucy Preston.  This is my sister, Jiya Marri. We, ah, found your puzzle box, and we’d like to ask you about it.’

_Puzzle box…?_  Oh, _that’s_ why Jiya looked familiar.  ‘No.’

Now it was Lucy’s turn to blink.  ‘No?’ she repeated, her smile faltering.

‘You didn’t “find” my puzzle box, she stole it,’ he said, pointing to Jiya.

Jiya put a hand to her chest.  ‘How _dare—’_

‘Spare me the false indignation.  You should be proud. No one’s successfully picked my pocket in years.  I didn’t even notice until half a block later. And you—’ He swung his finger from Jiya to Lucy.  ‘You’re not here about the box, at least, not by itself. You’re here about Hamunaptra.’

Lucy's eyes grew comically wide.   _‘How—’_ She cut herself off, glancing around the yard.  Garcia tried not to laugh. It was doubtful anyone was paying attention to a condemned man's last conversation.  He schooled his features info an appropriately serious expression as she stepped closer and lowered her voice. ‘How did you know the box relates to Hamunaptra?’

He shrugged, pretended to think about it.  ‘I don't know, Lucy—’

‘Dr. Preston.’

‘Sorry?’

She lifted her chin.  ‘It's Dr. Preston. I worked hard for that title and I like the way it sounds when people say it.’

He inclined his head with a grin.   ‘My apologies, Dr. Preston. As I was saying, maybe I know because I was there when I found the box.’

_‘You’ve actually seen it?’_  Lucy’s whisper went squeaky as she took another step forward.

‘Believe me, Doctor, that place is seared on my memory.’

She bit her lip, eyes darting around the yard again.  Finally she inched forward, lowering her voice until he had to lean forward to catch the words.  ‘Could you tell me how to get there?’

He blinked.  ‘You want to go to Hamunaptra?  I can’t recommend it as a vacation spot.’

‘Please?  It’s very important.’

He studied her.  He had no reason to tell her.  She was a complete stranger, and he was about to be hanged.  There was absolutely nothing she could do to him. On the other hand...he was about to be hanged, and he had nothing left to lose.  There was no reason _not_ to tell her.  And he could see how desperately she wanted the information.  She didn’t look the type to chat up condemned men for fun, and if she wanted to know that badly…  There wasn’t anything she could do _to_ him, but maybe there was something she could do _for_ him.

‘You _really_ want to know?’

_‘Yes,’_ she breathed.

He made his own show of looking around the yard, before motioning her closer.  As she obeyed, Jiya caught her arm. ‘Lucy! Don’t get within choking distance of the scary man in the cage!  He’s in jail for a reason!’

Lucy shook off Jiya’s hand and bent until her face was level with his.  ‘Tell me.’

Instead of answering, he reached through the bars, grabbed her chin, and pressed a quick kiss to her lips.  If he _was_ going to die, he’d like to go out with at least one nice memory.  The guards shouted and pulled him back from the bars. As they dragged him away—he was certainly on his way to gallows now—he yelled, ‘I can take you.  Just get me _out_ of here, Doctor!’

* * *

 

Lucy glared the warden and tried not to think about how close Flynn was to death.  Since Madam Christopher accidentally burned the map, this…ruffian was their only choice.  She would _not_ lose her chance at a real dig, at _history,_ just because he felt the need to work out his aggression in public.  If that meant bribing the loathsome little warden and snatching Flynn from the gallows, so be it.

She was also resolutely _not_ thinking about what a surprisingly good kisser said ruffian was, either.  That was _entirely_ beside the point.

Garden-variety bribes weren't enough to overcome the warden's dislike of Flynn—after her conversation with the man, she couldn't _imagine_ why—but she didn't just have garden-variety bribes at her disposal, did she?  The warden wasn't her first choice of person to share the secret with, and she couldn't believe she was even considering telling him.

In the courtyard below, Flynn's struggles were weakening as he ran out of air.

‘He knows the location of Hamunaptra,’ she blurted, eyes on Flynn as she willed him to hang on a little longer.  ‘And if you cut him down, we’ll give you ten percent!’

The warden grunted.  ‘Fifty!’

It was a strange feeling, arguing the worth of the life of a man she'd only just met.  That didn’t mean she wasn’t good at it. She and Jiya had grown up haggling in markets all over the world, and it was almost laughably easy to talk the warden down to twenty-five percent.  As the he signaled for Flynn to be cut down, Lucy stood.  ‘Have Mr. Flynn collect his belongings and meet my sister and I at the docks at nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning, if you please.’  She couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at Flynn.  He was slumped on the ground, massaging his throat, and staring up at her with something akin to awe on his face.  She couldn’t stifle the little grin born from the glow of satisfaction that look gave her.  Everything from here on out would go exactly according to plan.

* * *

 

‘I've made a terrible mistake, haven't I?’

Jiya shook her head fondly from where she watched Lucy pace back and forth beside their boat as they waited for Flynn to arrive.  ‘You haven't made a terrible mistake. You were brilliant yesterday and you're going to be brilliant when we get to Hamunaptra, and the Bembridge Scholars will fall over themselves to offer you a job when we get back.’

Lucy added wild gestures to her frantic pacing.  ‘But I’ve put our lives into the hands of a man who was condemned to death!  And now we’re going to go off to who knows where with him. What was I _thinking!_  He’s filthy, rude, a complete _scoundrel—’_

‘Anyone I know?’

Lucy whirled with a strangled squeak, looking up—and _up—_ to meet the twinkling green eyes of a surprisingly clean Garcia Flynn.  She hadn’t realized in the prison just how _tall_ he was.

He’d managed to have a shave and haircut in addition to his bath, and the results were quite...acceptable.  ‘Mr. Flynn. Hello.’

‘Dr. Preston, Miss Marri,’ he said cheerfully, inclining his head towards Jiya.  ‘This is going to be fun, don’t you agree?’

‘This isn’t about _fun,_ Mr. Flynn,’ Lucy said severely, ignoring Jiya’s snort.  ‘We’re about to follow you across a hostile desert to a city that’s been lost for thousands of years.  I need to know I can trust you.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘Can I?’

He held her eye for a long moment, then nodded.  ‘You saved my life, and I said I would take you there and back again.  That’s what I plan to do.’

Lucy nodded in turn.  ‘Fair enough. Then I believe our expedition starts now.  Lead the way, Mr. Flynn.’

He grinned.  ‘I’m sure we’ll make quite the team, Doctor.  Let me get your bags.’

Lucy and Jiya stared after him as he effortlessly hefted their luggage and carried it onto the boat.

‘He might be rude and a scoundrel, but he certainly cleans up nicely,’ Jiya observed mildly.

Lucy hummed thoughtfully.  ‘He’s very presentable,’ she agreed, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye, to see Jiya grinning back.  They dissolved into giggles as they started up the gangplank of the boat.

As they watched Cairo shrink behind them, Jiya nudged Lucy with her elbow.  ‘Did you ever finish cleaning up the library?’

Lucy paled.  ‘Uh, oops?’

**Author's Note:**

> I swear, I was just picturing Flynn as Indiana Jones and then this happened. Because I need more ships to write about :P This is going to be a oneshot series, because I don't do so well with chapter fics, and this way I can skip to the good parts without having to figure out the stuff in between B)
> 
> Something that I'll probably address in a later installment but wanted to mention here: Jiya's parents were friends with Lucy's, and adopted her when her parent were killed at a dig when she was a kid.
> 
> I'm [taleasoldastime-andspace](https://taleasoldastime-andspace.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Come scream with me about this glorious garbage scow!


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